A man who was born with cerebral palsy is to receive a 5 million Australian dollars compensation package after sustaining catastrophic injuries when diving into the shallow end of a public swimming pool.

Reece Hodder (28) from Scarborough, Western Australia, was deaf, blind and mute from birth and had a perception of danger equivalent to that of a twelve-year-old. In January 2006, he was visiting the South Hedland Aquatic centre in Perth, Western Australia when he dived from a block positioned at the shallow end of the swimming pool into 1.1 metres of water. The impact with the floor of the pool left Reece completely paralysed, and whereas before the accident he was living an independent life, his quadriplegic condition now means that he requires full-time care.

Reece´s mother, Elaine, sued the Town of Port Hedland – the owners of the pool – and the YMCA who managed it, claiming that both parties were negligent in contributing to Reece´s injury. In March this year, the Port Hedland District Court heard that the Town of Port Headland council had been warned three times prior to the accident about the dangers of having permanent diving blocks at the shallow end of the pool and had been criticised for displaying inadequate warning signs.

Finding the council 90% negligent, Judge Patrick O´Neal stated that “On the evidence at trial, there were organisations, public and private, offering funds for improvements to the South Hedland Aquatic Centre. Despite all of this, for reasons that were never explained, (the council) repeatedly procrastinated about making the changes until it was literally too late.”

The judge dismissed the action against the YMCA – although there had been no lifeguards on duty at the time of the accident – and announced last week that compensation for the serious personal injury claim had been agreed by the two parties at 5 million Australian dollars. The settlement is subject to the approval of the District Court as Reece is disabled.

A New York widow has been awarded more than one million dollars in personal injury compensation, after she slipped on a carelessly placed plastic dustsheet while renovation work was being done on her studio apartment.

Marie Wilson (89) of Manhattan, New York, sustained her injury in March 2009, when workmen were in the process of installing replacement windows. Her landlord and the workmen had moved furniture away from the window area and laid plastic dustsheets in order to protect the floor. However, one of these dustsheets had been laid carelessly, and it was on this sheet that Marie slipped.

Her injuries required that she undergo hip replacement surgery and extensive physical therapy and, for a long period after her surgery, the former avid walker had to use a walking aid in order for her to remain mobile.

After taking legal advice, Marie sued the landlord and property management agent – Caran Properties Inc. – and the contractors – Skyline Windows LLC – for a breach in their duty of care. At the Supreme Court of Bronx County a jury found the co-defendants to have been negligent and awarded Marie 450,000 dollars for past pain and suffering and 600,000 dollars for future pain and suffering.

A British man, injured in a fight when defending his brother, has been awarded almost 14,000 Australian dollars victims-of-crime compensation by an Australian Capital Territory magistrate´s court.

David D’Ambrosio, who was born in Canberra but now works in England as a personal trainer, was visiting his brother in January 2010 when they were set upon by a group of men just as they were concluding a night out with friends in the town of Civic.

In the fracas, David suffered an irreparable tear to a ligament in his knee and needed two reconstructive surgeries as a result. His injuries meant that he was unable to fly back to the UK as planned and missed a considerable time from work.

After hearing evidence from David´s legal representatives, Magistrate Maria Doogan ordered that he receive 9,776 Australian dollars for the costs of his medical expenses, 840 Australian dollars to compensate for his airfare and a further 3,341 Australian dollars for his subsequent loss of earnings.

Kraft – owners of Cadbury´s Chocolate and manufacturers of Cracker Barrel, Philadelphia and their own brand of Cheeses – have settled an $8 Million class action suit brought against them by residents of Attica, Indiana.

The residents of 124 homes in the city alleged that a nearby Kraft factory had polluted the local air with vinyl chloride – a known human carcinogen – and had contaminated the local water supply with trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE).

Testing in the Attica homes had revealed the presence of vinyl chloride, and residents demanded both compensation for the ill health caused by Kraft´s polluting activities and also that the company clean up its factory site and nearby ground water.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kraft will also install mitigation systems in homes which have been affected and individual plaintiffs will still have the right to bring individual compensation claims should they become sick as a result of the pollution.

A Los Angeles concert-goer, who sustained terrible leg injuries when falling from a ledge alongside an access road from the venue car park, has been awarded 3.2 million dollars by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury.

Denise Herron, of Los Angeles, California, was attending a John legend concert with her boyfriend at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in September 2009. After being directed by parking attendants to a nearby dirt car parking area, Denise and her boyfriend started making their way to the venue entrance.

However, access from the car park involved walking towards oncoming traffic, and many other concert-goers had chosen an alternative route which involved climbing over a two foot high fence which had a three foot ditch on the other side. This access was unlit and, in the darkness of the night, Denise slipped and broke her leg.

Due to the severity of her injuries, the Los Angeles Superior Court heard that Denise had to leave her job as sports marketing director for the L.A. Sparks and, after four surgeries to repair the injury, the bone has still not properly healed and remains in two pieces. A medical expert at the trial gave evidence to suggest that Denise may never fully recover from her injuries.

Claiming that the Greek Theatre was negligent in not providing a safe access to the theatre from the car parking area, Denise sued Nederlander-Greek Inc., lessees of the Greek Theatre, for personal injury compensation and loss of income. The Los Angeles jury agreed that Nederland-Greek Inc. were indeed negligent and awarded the considerable compensation settlement in Denise´s favour.